Catholic Vitamin B Basics

Can we arrive in Heaven by practicing just the Basics? I guess it depends on what we mean and what we do as the basics. Our Catholic Vitamins “B” show is meant to stimulate us to think about whether we are practicing a sufficient number of the basics of our faith. Are we creating a baseline of faith practice that gives good teaching to our children? To our neighbor? Is it growing in our lives?

The basics that Dee & I use might not be the Catholic faith-basics that would ‘work’ for you. But I hope you wouldn’t ignore them all. Here are some of our practices and approaches. We have a number of religious articles and artifacts around our home. It doesn’t look like a Catholic gift shop closeout sale — but you wouldn’t have to look far to find evidence of our faith. We go to Mass almost every day. Deacon Tom goes to pro-life adoration for an hour each week; Dee goes to an hour of prayer and quiet time with a Marian Cenacle group – they do this in the Church we attend. We say grace before our meals. We are both faithful in our use of Confession. Tom has been trying to say a daily Rosary — after reading and then doing the Total Consecration to Mary made popular by St. Louis de Montfort.

These are some of our basics. They are not meant to be an item of bragging nor are their a challenge issued to you. In fact – if you have other Catholic Faith Basics that you are involved with – we’d love to hear from you.

Meanwhile, the lovely lady above is Cheryl Dickow. She is the founder and CEO of Bezalel Books. We started our time together talking about how our Catholic faith life is grafted onto the Jewish faith. That’s a fact. That’s a basic for us to know and understand. This grafting explains the importance and significance of terms like covenant and the Lamb of God. There are many more — two are mentioned just to give example.

Cheryl and three other ladies wrote a book entitled ALL THINGS GUY: A Guide to Becoming a Man that Matters. It’s written for young fellows in a general age range of 8 or 9 to about 12 or 13 years of age. There are primers on how to treat and act with girls, dealing with the bully, importance of friends, moms and what they do and what their importance is. Similar information is included for fathers, priest-fathers, faith matters, etc.

This isn’t … as in IS NOT a goodie two shoes book This is practical, down-to-earth and real-world. Think before you TEXT… Think before you email. How to understand how girls process attention from guys. What would Jesus do? This book even has some recipes in it. I think it is the perfect companion to this show devoted to the topic of faith-basics.

And what — what say you about Catholic Faith Basics? In your life? In the life of your parents? I’d like to hear from you.

I might also refer you to a column I recently wrote on the Catholic Mom site. It’s called SPENDING TIME IN A GOD-LESS HOME. Not a godless home… but a God-Less home. You probably know the way to get there — but for those who would like a link pointer — go to www.catholicmom.com and go to the columns written by Deacon Tom.

Thanks for being a part of Catholic Vitamins — we most often stick to the basics. I hope it works for you.

BTW: Cheryl Dickow did an interview with Tom and Dee. It’s published on Catholic Exchange. Later I’ll try to find a copy or the link and post it below.

Cheryl’s columns on Catholic Exchange are found at:
http://catholicexchange.com/category/columnists/cheryl-dickow/

During this show, we mentioned Madonna House, Catherine Doherty and their wonderful publications: books, CDs, audio tapes, calendar, gift cards, etc. You can find them at:http://www.madonnahouse.org/publications/

Our final song was from a gorgeous CD entitled TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS: Music for Easter 2010 Edition. The music is performed by the Choir of the Basilica of the National Shring of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D. C. And you can find information about the Shrine and this CD at:www.nationalshrine.com